A&E waiting times 'on the increase'

Accident and emergency waiting times are getting longer, research suggests.

PUBLISHED: 10:41, Thu, Dec 6, 2012

A third of patients waited more than half an hour in accident and emergency before being seen by a d [PA]

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said a major survey in England found a third of patients spent more than four hours in A&E. In 2004, the figure was 23%.

And 33% of patients said they waited more than half-an-hour before they were seen by a doctor or a nurse, up from 24% in 2004.

The CQC's survey of 46,000 patients found nearly a quarter of those who arrived by ambulance had to wait more than 15 minutes with the ambulance crew for their care to be transferred to A&E staff. One in 20 had to wait more than an hour.

The research, conducted across 147 NHS trusts with major accident and emergency departments, also found 59% of people were not told how long they would have to wait to be examined, compared with 56% in 2004.

Almost half of patients who were prescribed medicines said they were not warned about possible side-effects. But most people said they still had confidence and trust in the health professionals who treated them.

Perceptions of the cleanliness of A&E units have also substantially improved from previous surveys, the CQC said.

David Behan, CQC chief executive, said: "The important issue is that people who need to be treated urgently do not have to wait. It is disappointing therefore that people have said they have to wait longer to be treated than four years ago.

"People should be seen, diagnosed, treated and admitted or discharged as quickly as possible and this is an issue that trusts need to urgently tackle.

"It is however encouraging to see people's perceptions of trust in clinicians and cleanliness continuing to be high and more people than ever saying that they have enough privacy when discussing conditions with receptionists."